Star Scene

By Tarek Tutunji

On March 28^th, the occasion of World Theatre Day, Impro Beirut presented 24 hours of nonstop improvisation at Monot Theater titled “9 pm to 9 pm”,  directed by Lucien Bourjeily who previously gave us “Mitlna Mitlak”.

Improvisation is a method of acting where the actors have to come up with the entire performance by themselves without following any preset scripts or practicing existing scenes. It requires a high degree of creativity, energy, and intelligence. Often, actors, out of the smallest amount of information, are able to develop characters and story-lines that are truly astounding.

Doubtful about this alleged 24-hour policy, I walked in at 1 am on Saturday expecting to see a drunken hobo prancing on the stage. As I neared the door and prepared to enter, I silently sighed to myself as the grunts of an inebriated old man could be clearly heard from the outside. When I walked in, however, I saw that it was in fact the actors performing a scene written out for them by the audience. Turns out that as part of the improv night, every scene was picked by choosing a scenario submitted by the audience on pieces of paper.

I took a seat while silently wondering what kind of person would want to see something about drunken hobos. It took some effort to acclimate to the world inside the theater, but I got into the atmosphere after a few minutes. The actors were a wonderful eclectic bunch and they gave a worthy effort at playing out our fantasies.  Under the minimal direction of Mr Bourjeily, the performers did a really wonderful job at creating colorful scenes which at times even had plot twists and surprising turns.

The scenarios were not the only way that the audience was able to interact with the actors, members stepped in at times to lend a hand; providing sound effects or even taking up a key role on the stage. Most of us, however, seemed to prefer remaining shielded by the anonymity of being an observer, a few really got into the acting.

Perhaps a healthy sign of the prospects of the night was the relatively high turnover rate among the audience, it seemed like every few minutes someone would walk out and be quickly replaced by someone coming in. This was a testament to the unique interest in the concept of a 24 hour show and to the fact that after a while the improve sketches tend to become tedious. I found it hard to keep my interest going for more than an hour. This may be a part of the show’s rationale which is to get as many people as possible and usually that’s about the time needed to remain interest in any show.

During the time I was there, the actors and the audience did a great job at tirelessly coming up with exciting and side splitting scenarios by using a variety of props and often improvising when a new person walks into the theater by taking their purse or incorporating them into the scene. It was hilarious watching the confused newcomer trying to keep up; the result was riveting and enthralling.

It was unfortunate though that the themes tended to exclusively revolve around comedy. While it may be that this style is the one that most easily lends itself to being improvised, the reason was the audience’s relentless requests for comedy scene.

I’m not an expert on theater but I think if the improv method in Lebanon is attempting to reach critical success; it needs to make a choice: either make it all about the actors and cut down on the slapstick or engage the audience and bring them into the action at a deeper level. Judging by the crowd I saw that night, the former may prove to be the easier of the two. That doesn’t mean that I won’t be looking forward with impatient anticipation to see what Director Lucien Bourjeily and his talented crew will come up with next.

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